The S Rank Mission: Confessing
by Pressing Point
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki is "in like" with Hinata Hyuuga; Now that he knows this, the Rokudaime has given himself the S-Rank mission of confessing


**The S Rank Mission: Confessing**

Soft blue skies, wispy white clouds, a gleaming sun— it was the perfect day. Little animals scurried around the fields, birds sang and nature hummed. Everything was quiet and peaceful, and the world felt like _one._

Today would be the day he did it. Or maybe the day he _planned_ to do it…

"This…" Naruto sighed. "This I don't know…"

He lacked experience in this sort of thing.

He was a shinobi, and a great one at that. In addition to completing dozens of missions— the majority being highly ranked and successful—, he was the shinobi who hosted and befriended the Kyuubi within his stomach. He was the shinobi who fought against the hardships that came along with being a jinchuuriki, the shinobi who united the entire ninja world to defeat Uchiha Madara in the Fourth (and hopefully final) Great Ninja War. Heck, _he _was the shinobi who saved the world from the wrath of Kaguya— who was practically, what, God? So wouldn't all that technically make him Ninja-Jesus?

Ninja-Jesus aside, he was the Hidden Leaf's Nandaime, the voice of the people, the protector and keeper of the peace. He was Naruto Uzumaki: the boy who had been through it all, and the boy who possessed the remarkable ability to change hearts with just his smile.

That's who he was. That's what he had experience in. Just not _this._

"But I have to try, at least… What kind of nindo do I have if I give up already?"

He sighed again. You'd think things would be easy for him; but no, they were even harder now. She was just too complex, too complicatedly simple for him to understand.

"How am I supposed to even…?"

He was trying to catch a girl's attention, something he clearly wasn't very good at. Well maybe he was good at it… or maybe he… he just didn't know!

"Just how do you possibly tell a girl that you're 'in like' with her?"

Naruto fidgeted with the petals of the pink rose in his fingers, frowning slightly. He knew the flower gimmick was overly cliché but it was what he had. He wasn't exactly the "romantic."

"But I need to be the 'romantic,'" Naruto groaned. "I need to impress her…"

He closed his eyes and searched his mind for the advice he'd received earlier.

"_Idiot, just be really sweet to her! Girls like that sort of thing! Say something romantic like 'Your eyes light up my world like the Sun lights up the sky' and she'll melt into your arms!"_

Sakura told him that one.

Say something sweet.

After taking in a deep breath, he began, "Hinata…" At the thought of those large lavender eyes watching him with such curious innocence, his mouth ran dry and his voice hightailed off to Suna.

He closed his eyes and pictured her in his mind. Midnight-blue hair that desired to be stroked, soft pale skin that demanded to be caressed, unique lavender eyes that always shared a new story, a nose that wanted to be pecked, lips that needed to be kissed…

He blushed as his thoughts took a fork in the road. Just what would it be like to _kiss _her? Would he be _good_ at it? Would she _like _it?

Kisses. He decided he liked them. They were soft, kind and compassionate… just like her.

"Ah… but she's out of my league…"

In truth, she was. He didn't deserve her. She was too good for him, way too good for him— _and_ too perfect. A girl like her shouldn't have existed.

How could he approach her knowing that she was better than him in every aspect, that she could have any man she wanted with the bat of an eyelash, and that he was at the bottom of least desirable choices?

However, there was one minor yet major fault she had in her perfection: she loved _him_. Of all men to choose from, she had settled upon _him_. Him, him, him. And she was stubborn too. She wouldn't forget about him. She lived for him, she died for him, and she kept coming back to save him. It was terrifying. She just _kept _loving him no matter how oblivious he may have been.

What scared him the most was that deep down, he knew she'd never stop. She had his nindo amplified to the max.

That made things even _harder _for him. Just how was he supposed to compete with that?

He knew the answer to that one: he couldn't. She was just too good for him.

"_Give her flowers, duh! They're the key to any girl's heart!"_

Ino said that and was the reason for his fidgeting with the single pink rose he held.

Determined once again, Naruto gave the flower to the imaginary Hinata and politely bowed. "Good afternoon, milady. Would you like a flower? And if you want that, what about a date? Me, you, a steamy bowl of ramen, Ichiraku's, right now?"

He smacked his forehead and slid his hand down his face. Being cheeky wouldn't work with her. She was Hinata freakin' Hyuuga and he was Naruto Uzumaki. He was supposed to make her swoon with his alarming good looks, charming personality and intelligence. He wanted her to see just how much he had grown, see that he wasn't a boy anymore. He was 21. He was a man, a manly man.

"_Ask her to train and then tell her just how strong she's become! You know how much she values your opinion!"_

That was from Tenten.

Yes, he did know just how much Hinata valued his opinion. She had praised him so many times on how he changed her so. He honestly didn't think he deserved that praise. She was always strong; she was always bold; she was always fearless and confident— he just helped her realize it. He was nothing special at all.

Putting his thoughts behind, he imagined them at the training field, drinking water and taking deep breaths, relaxing with nature. He would tap her shoulder gently to catch her attention. She would quietly smile the small smile that made his heart race and devote all her attention to him.

Naruto grinned at the imagined scene. "Hinata, you've truly grown incredibly strong over the years! I've always liked your perseverance. Shows real commitment! Speaking of commitment… I think I'm in like with you…"

Naruto groaned. "No, no, no, noooooooo." That wasn't good enough.

He was telling her that he was 'in like' with her! A major announcement like that _needed_ a major confession!

And he had absolutely nothing. The useful advice stopped at Tenten. The rest he got… weren't so helpful.

_Yamato- "Uh… ask Kakashi?"_

_Kakashi- "Make sure to use protection!"_

_Sai- "Ah, Kakashi-sensei, he's dickless! How would he use protection?"_

_Sasuke- "Tch. Just try not to be an idiot, you idiot."_

_Kiba- "Touch her in any inappropriate way and I swear Akamaru and I will cut off your ramen supply for months!"_

_Shino- "…You come to me for advice in courting my former teammate. Why? Because you are clueless…"_

_Shikamaru- "Troublesome…"_

_Choji- "I dunno. Ask Ino!"_

_Shizune- "Tsunade-samaaaa! You may not be Hokage anymore but that doesn't mean you can still drink so much sak-!"_

_Tsunade- "SHUT UP, SHIZUNE! I'm old! Lemme do whadda want! -hic- Now Naruto -hic- I maaayy be drunk! Yessiree I am drunk BUT! Naruto, my boy-hic- , if you want to tell her you like her just -hic- be yourse- wait… where am I?"_

_Tonton- "Oink."_

_Neji- "You're thinking of telling Hinata-sama __**what**__?"_

The advice ended there since he'd only managed to evade Neji's pursuit half an hour ago. Now that he thought about it... if Neji was more than willing to hunt him down and he was his friend... what would Hiashi do?

"Ha!" Naruto cried, thumping his chest. "I'm not scared! I'll deal with that when the time comes!"

He slumped forward. That's _if _the time came...

He sighed and dropped the flower, dropped everything he'd been told. He just wanted to walk up to her and say, "Hinata, after years of secretly stalking you, I'm most definitely in like with you."

Well maybe, he'd take out the stalking part… It was true… he had been stalking her… be it by himself or with clones. He would follow her to the store, to the training grounds, to restaurants with her friends, to the hot springs… ok he may have peeped once or twice but he'd never seen anything no matter how hard he tried!

He began stalking her because she was an enigma, because she was _different_, because she intrigued him so much. He just had to know more about her. He couldn't help it. She became his obsession without him realizing it. She snuck her way into his heart and he couldn't even tell. That was until now.

He first began noticing his feelings with the small yet monumental talks he had with Hinata when the second year flew by. Each day, she would tell him something about him was changing, be it the look in his eyes or the tone of his voice, she told him all. Initially, he was curious about her words but he never added meaning to them. The pieces started becoming more and more clear only a year ago when his "symptoms" set in.

He began blushing around her a lot, her compliments made him shier than usual, he would find himself making excuses just to see her at least once a day, he was always trying to make their conversations last longer just to experience that bubbly feeling he got from hearing her voice, his heart kept drumming whenever he saw her smile, and he even became klutzy around her.

As soon as he acknowledged those "symptoms", he was able to solve the puzzle. He was in like with her. _Very, very _in like with her.

And then the dreams where he would wittily whisk her off her feet with his magnificent words began. Because of those dreams, the aching need to tell her grew larger and larger and larger every time he saw her. But also because of those dreams, he never found the drive to confess for an entire year and counting. He wasn't the witty guy from his dreams. He was just... Naruto. Konoha's #1 Knucklehead Ninja.

"Hinata, I like you. A lot. I like you so much that I can't even put it into words. I'm _in _like with you. All I know is that I don't deserve you and probably never will, no matter what I do." He looked to the sky longingly, just picturing her sweet face. "I could move mountains, build you a million houses, buy you anything you wanted… but none of that is good enough." He sighed. "You're just too perfect for me to reach."

No. That was no good. Way too chees-

"You really think so?"

His eyes widened and his breath hitched in his throat. That voice. He knew it very well. He heard it every day, every hour. There was no way. His mind was playing trick-

"T-That I'm too perfect for you?"

The gentle stutter, the quiet footsteps. Her. It was her. And here he was. Frozen mid-step, staring at the path before him with wide eyes, unable to process if he should feel embarrassment, fear or gladness.

She came closer, deathly close to his back. Her breath tickled his neck. "Well yes. You're right. I _am _too perfect for you. _Way _too perfect actually."

He sighed sadly. Slowly turning around, he met her playful eyes and smile with his somber ones. "So I _can't_ be in like with you?"

She happily shook her head and smiled the small smile he loved so much. "Nope. Because you're wrong, silly Naruto-kun!"

She stepped around him and he watched her walk away with confused eyes. So he _wasn't _in like with her? "B-But Hinata, I... I am in like with you!"

She turned around and smiled a cheeky smile. "You're stalking skills have been _way _too good to just be "like," Naruto-kun. Try again." She started walking backwards. "But… I'll give you this. If you can find the right "L" word, I'll treat you to as much ramen as you can eat!"

With ramen coming into play, the gears in his head began cranking.

She watched him as he thought, smiling and swaying her head bashfully. Growing weary of watching him pull his hair out, she lightly spun on her heel and began walking away.

"Wait, Hinata! Wait! Just give me a few more seconds!"

She laughed softly and continued walking. This time _he _would have to catch up to _her_.

"Hinaataaaaaaa!"

Maybe her intuition had been wrong today. He still hadn't realized it ye-

"LOVE!"

She froze and turned around, cheeks rosy. "W-Wha-?"

Naruto darted his eyes to the ground shyly while scratching his blond hair, his cheeks tinged pink. "I..." He drew his eyes to meet hers. "I... love... you..."

She swooned first but he fainted faster.

And so the pair lie on the path, unconscious but their faces as content as could be. They had both been assigned a new mission now: love.

Watching from afar with his almighty byakugan activated, Hiashi Hyuuga nodded in understanding. He had been preparing for this day ever since chapter 238 page 9. The time had come... to _groom the Rokudaime. _(**Sequel much?**)


End file.
